Let's Stop Accepting Job Misery For Job Security.

Okay, I will admit it….I am a hypocrite.?Because in reality, it took for me to be fired before I finally aligned my values with my work and became more engaged with what I do for a living - yet now every single day I encourage people to make career jumps themselves.

I guess looking back I simply didn’t have the courage to make the right career move for myself and felt trapped in the situation by my own “success”.

Of course, in hindsight, I was never trapped at all and like many, I was existing in a self-imposed prison. When it comes to our careers we have somehow managed to convince ourselves that guaranteed long-term unfulfillment is somehow preferable to the pain of short-term change and uncertainty. Frankly, it is nuts.

As a passionate Career Coach one of the major improvements, I would love to see in the world is for us all to stop accepting job misery in exchange for job security.?Think about it, how “secure” is a role in this environment anyway? And do “permanent jobs” really still exist? Broadly speaking, I think not.

This very issue is one of the key topics I am covering in the new LinkedIn Changemakers campaign which hits social and TV channels this week and I remain very excited about the engagement my fellow Changemakers and I can have with this new platform for impact.

As the Changemaker for Careers and Unemployment, I recognise I have a major challenge on my hands.?According to the now-infamous Gallop Polls, the vast majority of us have simply not been engaged in our work for some time and that to me feels like one of the major failings of modern society.

Just look what comes up when you type “My job is…” into Google!

Of course, when writing regarding career happiness you can quickly find yourself accused of being glib so before we continue, I would love to just clear a few things up.?I am not one of these gurus claiming you can get your “Dream Job” if you just believe it and work towards it.?For example, my dream job has always been to star in the NBA but at 5 feet 11, 92 kgs, and turning forty in a few weeks I am not sure any amount of positive affirmation is going to impact that!

While pragmatism, acknowledging financial constraints, and facing up to reality are vital in our career decisions, surely, we can all agree there is a middle ground between obtaining our “Dream Job” and the current status quo of widespread unhappiness in our work?

Before we get into what to do if you are unhappy in your career let’s look at what might have got us to this point in the first place.

I think for too long we have confused our career with our identity when they are simply not the same thing.?We have started conversations with new people by asking “What do you do?” and described ourselves with sentences such as “I am a Lawyer”.?The sooner we accept our job status doesn’t define us (but our character and relationships do) the better. And we have got to stop comparing what other people share outside about their lives with how we feel inside too. There is no doubt that the endless opportunity to digitally benchmark our own careers with how we perceive others has left large sections of the working population feeling inadequate and that they are failing.

For the record, I have absolutely no problem with people making serious amounts of money, competing successfully, and working hard at all but surely we should be looking after ourselves and enjoying the majority of the process?

Work shouldn’t be something we simply endure but I see many professionals pretending to be robots who think they can simply trade their time for money for an empty cause without consequences.?Clock watching, absenteeism, burnout, and depression are all commonplace, and too many people today are currently counting down their working days until the next holiday or a chance to retire. Large sections of the business population seem to spend more time navigating internal politics than impacting their chosen markets and have convinced themselves to take on a lot of stress in order to maintain their "lifestyle".

In addition as technology has become more prevalent my hypothesis is that there is a leadership deficit in most organisations that isn't helping our happiness at work one bit.?Many of the executives in the boardroom today are great with data but not great with people which regularly leads to a lack of phycological safety, toxic cultures, and teams regularly feeling a lack of meaning in their work.?

This all sounds pretty grim but believe me when I say I am writing this article today feeling full of hope.?The pandemic has served as a circuit breaker in the minds of people and the working population are now clearer than ever on what they want and expect.?There is talk of a great resignation, an appetite for a rethink, and campaigns such as the LinkedIn Changemaker initiative shining a light on the progress we want to see in the world of work.

When working with our Career Coaching clients we run them through our 3R’s model in order to unblock their situation and help them achieve a career breakthrough.

So if you know you are currently accepting job misery for job security and this article resonates why not give it a go. Here is what to do using the 3 R’s:

STEP 1 – REFLECT

The goal here is to look for clues as to your preferred future direction by analysing your current mindset and your career to date.

You can achieve this by answering these 5 key questions:

Where have I been most fulfilled in my career to date and why?

Should I be running my own business?

Is it the current role or the current work environment that is making me unhappy?

Who do I feel admiration or envy towards and what is this telling me?

What would I do with my career if I wasn’t scared?

Really think these questions through, scribble on paper, discuss them with people who know you, and create mind maps – but most importantly be 100% honest with yourself.

STEP 2 – RESEARCH

Here we are looking at turning your reflections into a set of options and getting clear on what you want your work life in the future to look like. You may want to talk to people who have already made the steps you are looking to make, undertake an Ikigai exercise, or research the professions or industries that are most of interest to you next.

Get to a point whereby you have a clear vision for yourself and start to map the journey required. Think about what courses you may have to take and why, whether a bridging role or multiple income streams may be required, and create a financial plan.

It is a contact sport! So have as many conversations as you need in order to get to a point of clarity. If you have been miserable at work for a long time you will start to feel a great level of nervous excitement at this point so hold on to that as the fuel for what is to come.

STEP 3 – REORIENTATE

Time to get after it! ?Start building a personal brand and create content on LinkedIn aimed at where you want to go, execute a go-to-market strategy and hone your personal pitch.?Make some moves, network, collaborate with partners in your preferred industry, and tailor your CV based on the transferable skills you bring to the new table you want to sit at.

Most importantly at this stage, you need to give yourself permission to do what you really want and try whenever possible to let go of the judgement of others. I hope this inspires you to execute a career plan and show the courage I was never able to muster. Once you do your main frustration will be that you didn't do it much sooner!

Please share this article with anyone who could benefit and comment with your own insights and experiences below.

Let's Get To Work!

This article was written as part of the LinkedIn #Changemakers campaign – a campaign shining a spotlight on individuals using LinkedIn to drive genuine change in the world of work. To find out more about the partnership, read more?here . And if you want to join the conversation, share the one thing you’d like to change about the world of work in a post on LinkedIn with the hashtag?#ConversationsForChange .